> It is common knowledge that when first learning programming, one should start with small projects to build something real rather than learning rules and syntax of the language only.
I would start by examining that assumption: it varies from one person to the next. If you like the project approach then great, go for it, but for other people it can be better to exercise individual features of the language in isolation until they are well understood, rather than trying to put a lot of half-understood features together into a more complex program. I have gotten into trouble over this myself a few times, and now definitely prefer the piecewise approach to the project approach.
I would start by examining that assumption: it varies from one person to the next. If you like the project approach then great, go for it, but for other people it can be better to exercise individual features of the language in isolation until they are well understood, rather than trying to put a lot of half-understood features together into a more complex program. I have gotten into trouble over this myself a few times, and now definitely prefer the piecewise approach to the project approach.